WoW Journal - 19-Jun-2006

Yesterday afternoon, after my Stranglethorn fishing trip, I switched back to my old server, and went raiding with my level 60 priest. Raid composition was slightly sub-optimal, with only 3 priests, and we wiped more often than usual. But in the end we managed to kill Sulfuron, Golemagg, and Majordomo. As the third priest had even less DKP than me, and the first priest is already nearly full epic, I even won the Mantle of Prophecy. Wow, two epics on the same weekend!

Now I *should* be overcome with "purple fever", but strangely I'm not. Compared to fishing in Stranglethorn at level 16, raiding MC at level 60 is a lot less exciting. Everybody except the raid leader is just a small cog in a big machine. You are basically expected to do what you are told and not goof up, and if everybody manages to do that, all goes well. Even when you meet a new boss, there is not much strategy discussion including all 40 raid members, that would be too chaotic. Usually the raid leader and class leaders have read up on how to beat that boss on the internet, and the troops just have to learn to get the execution of that right after a couple of wipes. I will continue to sign up for weekend raids, just for variety, but at the moment my low level priest is a lot more fun than my high level one. There is not much room for creativity in a raid.

After Majordomo my raiding guild decided to take a short break and then go hunting Onyxia, as we are a lot closer to killing her than to kill Ragnaros. But after hearing some unpleasant discussion on the subject of Onyxia keys, in which I kept mostly silent to not draw too much aggro, I excused myself and logged off. The guild has too few people with Onyxia keys to have a realistic chance of downing her. But as most of the people who got the keys arrived there without help from the guild, they now don't want to spend valuable "raid evenings" going to LBRS and UBRS to help the others get their keys. That is rather stupid, because it leads to an impasse. The more hardcore players can't do Onyxia due to lack of numbers, and the less hardcore players can't get their keys, as arriving at Wyrmthalak in LBRS with a pickup group isn't easy, most groups disband before getting there. If we would just skip one raid and divide those 40 players into groups doing LBRS, UBRS, and Test of Skulls, we could easily get a lot more keys and kill Onyxia the weekend after.

So, as I said, the most fun this weekend came from playing my low level priest, who just hit level 17 in Westfall. My plan to remain guildless didn't last more than 3 days, it seems I am addicted to guild chat. :) But I managed to find a guild that does not do random invites, which is serious about playing, but not fanatic. I feel most comfortable in one of those "second best" guilds, where the other players know how to play well, and how to get things done, without kicking you out of the guild because you don't raid 7 nights a week, or go on a summer holiday.

Besides leveling up fishing in Darkshore (Auberdine has 3 good fishing quests), I spent most of my time in Westfall since I finished Elwynn Forest. I did lots of quests, and have the quest chain done which leads to the "main quest" for the Deadmines, where I plan to go a few times from level 18 on. Westfall is full of humanoids, both bandits and gnolls, who drop lots of linen cloth, and the occasional wool from the higher level ones. So my tailoring is up to 105, and I still had linen to spare to skill up first aid. My level 60 priest doesn't have first aid, but sometimes having a method of healing that doesn't use mana is useful even for a priest. The only disadvantage of Westfall is that it is crowded with other players. Humans are one of the more popular races, and even the other Alliance races quest there in preparation for the Deadmines, the first dungeon an Alliance player can go to. But I learned to work around overcrowding, taking all available quests at once, and switching from quest to quest if one hunting location becomes too crowded with other players.

It is astounding how similar soloing with a level 60 priest is to soloing with a level 17 priest. Shield up, Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, and then shoot the mob to death with your wand. The only difference is that with the level 60 I would do it only for small gains in gold or faction. With the level 17 I do the same thing with a horizon of reaching a level that will open up the first dungeon to me, and then the next, and the next, until I reach level 60. A lot more motivating when you really see your character advancing.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:23 AM Permanent Link